Sabres trample Storm

There was no hiding the disappointment after this one.

As the clock approached zero, emotions ran heavy on the Sauk Rapids-Rice football team’s sideline as the inevitable sunk in. The Storm simply had no answer for Sartell running back Jonah Ambrosier, whose powerful yet elusive running style was the main factor as the Sabres grinded their way to a 44-30 victory Oct. 9 at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School Stadium in Sauk Rapids.

Ambrosier had 36 carries for 173 yards and scored three touchdowns – the final coming with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining on a 4-yard plunge that sealed SRR’s fate. The Sabres, who improved to 3-3, also mixed in a few big plays at key times, getting a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Daylon Holter. His 20-yard connection to Kobe Lund two seconds before halftime gave the Sabres a 22-8 lead.

Ambrosier has 184 carries for 1,111 yards with two regular-season games remaining.

Sartell punted only once and finished with 332 yards on the ground while its defense limited the Storm to 67 rushing yards.

Payten Remer finished with 11 carries for 56 yards and three touchdowns. His 1-yard scoring run with 6:33 remaining pulled the Storm to within 36-30, but Ambrosier -- behind Sartell’s physical offensive line -- embarked on a nearly five-minute scoring drive for the exclamation point.

SRR quarterback Alex Zimmer completed 15 of 22 passes for 214 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown to Connor Winkelman on the first drive of the second half that cut Sartell’s lead to 22-14.

The Storm (1-5) will face Cambridge-Isanti Wednesday, Oct. 14, at George Larson Field in Cambridge. The Bluejackets (3-3) are coming off a 22-6 win over St. Francis.

SAR     8    14    6    16 – 44
SRR      0     8    14    8 – 30
SAR: Ambrosier 1 run (Ambrosier run)
SAR: Anders Larson 21 run (run failed)
SRR: Remer 5 run (Evan Hardy run)
SAR: Lund 20 pass from Holter (Larson pass from Ambrosier)
SRR: Winkelman 23 pass from Zimmer (pass failed)
SAR: Eli Gill 12 pass from Holter (run failed)
SRR: Remer 2 run (Remer run)
SAR: Ambrosier 3 run (Larson pass from Holter)
SRR: Remer 1 run (Remer run)
SAR: Ambrosier 4 run (Larson run)
SRR: Rushing: Remer 12-57, Zimmer 1-4, Hardy 4-0. Passing: Zimmer 15-22-1 200. Receiving: Winkelman 4-58, Calvin Lambaere 3-36, Ty Rudolph 1-35, Tavin Gohman 3-33, Peyton Prom 1-24, Carter Pesta 1-12, Hardy 2-2. Tackles (solo-assists): Remer 7-7 (1 TFL), Rudolph 7-7, Pesta 5-8, Andrew Scapanski 3-5, Ryan Hovanes 2-2, Mason Ascher 2-6, Alex Meyer 1-1, Lambaere 0-1, Brayden Freitag 0-5, Carter Orthman 0-4, Reed Krogstad 0-1.